throbber
Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`______________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`______________________
`
`
`
`AKER BIOMARINE AS and ENZYMOTEC LTD.
`Petitioners
`
`v.
`
`NEPTUNE TECHNOLOGIES AND BIORESSOURCES INC.
`Patent Owner
`
`______________________
`
`CASE IPR2014-000031
`U.S. Patent No. 8,278,351 B2
`______________________
`
`PATENT OWNER’S OPPOSITION TO PETITIONER
`AKBM’S MOTION FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY
`
`
`
`
`1 Case IPR2014-00556 has been joined with this proceeding.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`Aker’s expansive requests are not routine discovery and are not favored by the
`
`interests of justice. The requested materials are not relevant, let alone useful, and Aker
`
`could present analogous information through other means. In fact, Aker itself characterizes
`
`the requested discovery as cumulative of a “wealth” of allegedly similar evidence already of
`
`record. (E.g., Mot. at 8-10.)
`
`Unable to satisfy the requirements for routine or additional discovery under 37 C.F.R.
`
`42.51(b), Aker resorts to casting unfounded aspersions at Neptune and injecting arguments
`
`about the merits issues in these proceedings. The requested documents must be relevant,
`
`Aker insists, because Neptune did not agree to produce them. This notion is baseless and
`
`hypocritical. Neptune did not agree to Aker’s requests because they seek irrelevant and
`
`highly confidential materials, previously produced only pursuant to a stringent ITC protective
`
`order. There is nothing nefarious about Neptune’s desire to protect its proprietary
`
`information. Indeed, Aker itself refused to produce its confidential ITC documents because
`
`it did not want to “waive” the protections of the ITC’s order.
`
`Neptune should not be forced to put a thousand-plus pages of highly sensitive and
`
`irrelevant information into the hands of its competitors’ prosecuting attorneys and,
`
`potentially, the public domain. The Board should deny Aker’s Motion. In addition, the Board
`
`should expunge the portions of Aker’s Motion that are, as detailed below, unauthorized
`
`arguments on the merits and wholly unrelated to Aker’s discovery requests, which Aker
`
`included in an effort to circumvent the page limits for Petitioners’ Reply.
`
`
`
`1.
`
`

`
`I.
`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`THE REQUESTED DISCOVERY IS HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL AND SUBJECT TO
`AN ITC PROTECTIVE ORDER
`The materials Aker requests are confidential documents Neptune produced in prior
`
`litigation between the parties before the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”).
`
`Neptune, without challenge from Aker, designated all of the requested documents as
`
`“Confidential Business Information” (CBI) pursuant to the ITC Protective Order. All parties
`
`are bound under the ITC protective order to use CBI solely for purposes of the ITC
`
`Investigation, which is now terminated.
`
`Neptune attempted to reach a mutual agreement with Petitioners to use certain CBI
`
`documents in this proceeding, but Petitioners refused to enter into such an agreement.
`
`Petitioners would not even negotiate the issue in good faith. Accordingly, during the May
`
`28, 2014 conference call with the Board, Neptune proposed a procedure for requesting
`
`and/or objecting to the use of CBI documents. See NEPN Ex. 2027, 31:12-36:2. Aker
`
`opposed Neptune’s request and argued that use of Aker CBI documents would mean
`
`“waiving our [Aker’s] confidentiality concerns.” Id. at 36:22-37:1. Aker’s counsel further
`
`stressed that any agreement to use CBI documents “needs to be reciprocal and the
`
`parties still need to agree on that.” Id. at 36:13-17 (emphasis added).
`
`A reciprocal agreement was never reached. As a result, Neptune was barred from
`
`using Petitioners’ relevant CBI documents in depositions and in its Patent Owner Response.
`
`
`
`2.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`Now speaking out of the other side of its mouth, Aker urges the Board to ignore
`
`Neptune’s confidentiality interests and order a voluminous, indiscriminate production of
`
`Neptune CBI. Aker’s arguments ring hollow in light of its refusal to produce its CBI absent a
`
`“reciprocal” agreement. The documents Aker requests are also far more sensitive than the
`
`small number of documents Neptune requested from Aker. The requested Neptune
`
`documents disclose, for example, details regarding Neptune’s commercial manufacturing
`
`processes, business plans, and proprietary research and development activities.
`
`While Neptune agreed to a separate protective order for this IPR, the IPR protective
`
`order was drafted to cover the limited scope of discovery available in IPR, not the broad
`
`discovery available in the ITC. See Garmin Int’l, Inc. v. Cuozzo Speed Techs. LLC, Case
`
`No. IPR2012-00001, Paper No. 26 at 5 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 5, 2013) (“in inter partes review,
`
`discovery is limited as compared to that available in district court litigation.”). Given the
`
`limited scope of discovery, IPR protective orders are logically more limited than protective
`
`orders that the ITC or district courts may issue. For example, Neptune’s understanding is
`
`that the Board must retain the right to declassify confidential information, and that
`
`prosecution bars are not permitted. See U.S.P.T.O. Trial Practice Guide, App’x B; CRS
`
`Adv. Techns., Inc. v. Frontline Techs., Inc., Case No. CBM2012-00005, Paper 43 at 3
`
`(P.T.A.B. May 28, 2013) (“A protective order that deviates from the Board’s default
`
`protective order must nonetheless include [mandatory] terms as outlined in the Office
`
`Practice Guide”).
`
`
`
`3.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`Accordingly, the parties agreed that this IPR protective order would cover CBI
`
`documents only by mutual agreement. NEPN Ex. 2033. ¶ 6. Aker itself argued that
`
`producing CBI under an IPR protective order would “waiv[e]” the protections ordered by the
`
`ITC. This does not mean this IPR protective order is “deficient,” as Aker claims, but simply
`
`that it does not and cannot sufficiently cover the Neptune CBI Aker demands. The problem
`
`is not with the IPR protective order, but with Aker’s requests for highly confidential
`
`information that is, as detailed below, wholly irrelevant to this proceeding.
`
`II.
`
`
`
`AKER’S REQUESTS ARE NOT ROUTINE DISCOVERY
`
`Aker’s requests do not call for routine discovery. “Routine discovery under 37 C.F.R.
`
`§ 41.51(b)(1)(iii) is narrowly directed to specific information known to the responding party to
`
`be inconsistent with a position advanced by that party in the proceeding, and not broadly
`
`directed to any subject area in general within which the requesting party hopes to discover
`
`such inconsistent information.” Garmin at 4. Neptune has produced all information covered
`
`by routine discovery, and knows of no information in its possession that is inconsistent with
`
`positions it has advanced in this proceeding.
`
`III.
`
`AKER’S REQUESTS FAIL THE GARMIN TEST FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY
`
`To obtain something more than routine discovery, Aker must prove that its requests
`
`meet the demanding five-factor “interest of justice” test set forth in Garmin. Aker fails to
`
`meet this burden. Its requests fail under at least Garmin factors 1 and 3 because the
`
`
`
`4.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`information they seek to elicit is not useful, and because equivalent information is available
`
`through other means that do not risk compromising Neptune CBI.
`
`A. CaPre email (RX-0456C)
`
`
`
`This 2010 internal email purports to summarize heat treatments (all well below
`
`125°C) performed on CaPre®, a product manufactured by a Neptune subsidiary. Aker
`
`argues that RX-0456C relates to whether or not hydrolysis will occur when Beaudoin’s oil is
`
`heated to 125°C for 15 minutes per the required Beaudoin heating step.
`
`
`
`Testing of a finished commercial product manufactured nearly a decade after the
`
`‘351 Patent priority date is not relevant, let alone “useful,” to determining how a crude krill oil
`
`extract made in accordance with Beaudoin would degrade as a result of Beaudoin’s heating
`
`step. Aker would have the Board believe that any krill oil responds to heating in the same
`
`way, despite the record evidence to the contrary. It is undisputed that an oil’s susceptibility
`
`to hydrolysis is influenced by water and free fatty acid content.2 The water content and
`
`other relevant characteristics of a refined commercial oil like CaPre® are not analogous to
`
`Beaudoin’s crude krill oil fractions. This request therefore fails under Garmin factor 1.
`
`
`2 See, e.g., NEPN Ex. 2060, p. 6 (showing the “smoke point” of soybean oil). Neptune has
`
`not, as Aker claims, equated soybean oil with Beaudoin krill oil; Neptune has cited the
`
`smoke point diagram to illustrate the general principle that an oil’s free fatty acid content will
`
`affect the temperature at which hydrolysis occurs. NEPN Ex. 2059, Jaczynski Decl., ¶ 18.
`
`
`
`5.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`Even if testing on a commercial product could be useful, Aker’s request still fails
`
`
`
`under Garmin factor 3 because Aker has or could have obtained data of this nature through
`
`other means. CaPre® is no more similar to Beaudoin oil than Aker’s own krill oil products.
`
`If Aker wants to rely on this type of data, it should submit analyses on its own products, or
`
`on the numerous “recreation” Beaudoin oil samples it has commissioned.
`
`B. Transcripts from ITC Depositions of Dr. Fotini Sampalis (Vols. I-III)
`
`
`
`These transcripts comprise three full days of testimony given by Dr. Sampalis as a
`
`fact witness, and specifically, as a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) corporate
`
`representative on dozens of topics that are undisputedly irrelevant here. The nearly 900
`
`pages of testimony are replete with Neptune CBI. For example, in response to topics
`
`related to the existence of a “domestic industry” under 19 U.S.C. § 1337, a disputed issue in
`
`the ITC litigation, Dr. Sampalis testified about Neptune’s sales, distribution chain, and
`
`business plans. Dr. Sampalis also testified in extensive detail about Neptune’s proprietary
`
`manufacturing processes and research and development activities.
`
`
`
`There is no apparent reason why “the subjective mindset or opinions” of the inventor
`
`would be useful here. See Intri-Plex Techs. v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Rencol
`
`Ltd., Case No. IPR2014-00309, Paper No. 40 at 12 (P.T.A.B. Sept. 4, 2014); see also Apple
`
`Inc. v. Achates Reference Publ’g, Inc., Case No. IPR-2013-00080/81, Paper 28 at 3
`
`(P.T.A.B. July 2, 2013) (denying leave to file motion seeking production of inventor
`
`deposition testimony from related litigation). Aker claims that Dr. Sampalis gave testimony
`
`
`
`6.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`relevant to Beaudoin’s heating step, but that testimony was actually about Neptune
`
`commercial manufacturing processes, and so is not relevant or useful for the reasons
`
`detailed in Section III(A) above. To the extent Dr. Sampalis gave any testimony about the
`
`Beaudoin patent, Aker suggests no reason why such testimony would be useful or beyond
`
`what any one of Aker’s team of experts could provide.
`
`C. Report on NKO® (RX-0398C)
`
`
`
`Contrary to Aker’s assertion, this study of Neptune’s NKO® product does not relate
`
`to, let alone “undermine,” Neptune’s proposed construction of the term “about 5%,” which
`
`appears in claims 5 and 28. Claim construction is a question of law on which this
`
`confidential study, created six years after the ‘351 Patent priority date, has no bearing.
`
`Furthermore, while NKO® embodies certain inventions of the ‘351 Patent, Neptune has not
`
`contended that NKO® practices claim 5 or 28.
`
`
`
`This request also fails under Garmin factor 3. If Aker wants to submit testing of
`
`NKO®, it can buy the product and run its own analyses; it does not need discovery of
`
`Neptune’s confidential records.
`
`D. Transcript and Exhibits 4 and 5 from ITC Deposition of Pierre St-Jean
`These documents are not relevant to Neptune’s criticisms of Petitioners’ alleged
`
`
`
`Beaudoin repeats. These documents relate to a failed attempt by Mr. St-Jean, a Neptune
`
`employee, to repeat the Beaudoin patent in 2009. In his 2009 experiment, Mr. St-Jean
`
`deviated from his superiors’ instructions and, by his own admission, did not faithfully repeat
`
`
`
`7.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`the Beaudoin method. Accordingly, Neptune did not submit the 2009 experiment to the
`
`Patent Office because it is irrelevant to how a person of ordinary skill in the art would
`
`faithfully repeat the Beaudoin patent.3
`
`IV.
`
`
`AKER’S UNAUTHORIZED MERITS ARGUMENTS SHOULD BE EXPUNGED
`Aker has improperly utilized its Motion as a vehicle for merits arguments unrelated to
`
`its discovery requests. (See, e.g., Mot. at 3-10.) The Board authorized Aker to file a
`
`“motion requesting additional discovery,” not general briefing on the disputed issues in this
`
`proceeding. Paper 79 at 3 (Sept. 3, 2014).
`
`
`
`The Board should expunge the unauthorized portions of Aker’s brief pursuant to 37
`
`C.F.R. § 42.7(a). See Illumina, Inc. v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., Case No. IPR2012-
`
`00006, Paper 34 (P.T.A.B. Apr. 18, 2013) (expunging Petitioner’s filing because it contained
`
`improper argument and evidence). Aker’s extraneous merits briefing is a clear attempt to
`
`circumvent the page limits for Petitioners’ Reply. Giving Aker additional opportunity for
`
`
`3 Mr. St-Jean offered no expert opinions in the ITC case, and his deposition testimony
`
`indicates that he was not one of skill in the art in 2001 under either side’s proposed
`
`definition.
`
`
`
`8.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`merits argument would prejudice Neptune, particularly since Neptune has already submitted
`
`its Patent Owner Response and thus cannot respond to Aker’s new arguments.4
`
`
`
`Accordingly, the Board should expunge the following portions of Aker’s brief and the
`
`associated exhibits: section I(a); section I(c); and AKBM Exhibits 1093, 1094, 1098-1100,
`
`1102-1103. Examples of Aker’s improper arguments contained in these portions are set
`
`forth below.
`
` “It is undisputed that the claimed krill extracts need contain only one
`
`molecule of the Claimed Phospholipid in order to anticipate the independent
`
`claims at issue” (Mot. § I(a), p. 3; see also p. 4)
`
`
`
`This argument is unrelated to Aker’s discovery requests and is also incorrect. The
`
`independent claims at issue require other elements besides Claimed Phospholipid,5 for
`
`
`4 While the Board permitted Neptune additional pages for this Opposition in order to
`
`address the improper portions of Aker’s Motion, these additional pages are not sufficient to
`
`substantively address the broad scope of merits issues Aker raises. In addition, Neptune
`
`has no opportunity to submit evidence, including expert testimony, in response to Aker’s
`
`new arguments. Failure to expunge these unauthorized merits arguments from Aker’s brief
`
`would therefore prejudice Neptune.
`
`5 Neptune uses the term “Claimed Phospholipid” as defined at page 3 of Aker’s Motion to
`
`refer to the specific phospholipids recited in the ‘351 Patent claims.
`
`
`
`9.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`example, that the extract be “suitable for human consumption.” AKBM Ex. 1001 (claims 1
`
`and 24). Nor is it “undisputed” that a single molecule of Claimed Phospholipid is necessarily
`
`sufficient to satisfy the Claimed Phospholipid limitation. For example, as Neptune has
`
`argued, if an extract does not have detectable amounts of Claimed Phospholipid, one
`
`cannot conclude that the Claimed Phospholipid is present. See Neptune Patent Owner
`
`Response, Paper 66, pp. 29-30 (July 1, 2014). In other words, Aker cannot satisfy its
`
`burden of proof by arguing that an extract could hypothetically contain elements that were
`
`not detected.
`
` “There is only one place in the ‘351 Patent specification that purports to teach
`
`how to make the allegedly inventive extracts … using words [ ] similar to
`
`those of Beaudoin I” (Mot. § I(c)(1), p. 5)
`
`In this section, Aker rehashes its argument that the process disclosed in the ‘351
`
`Patent is “similar” to the process disclosed by Beaudoin, and further argues that there “is
`
`only one place” in the ‘351 specification that discloses how to practice the invention. (Mot.
`
`at 4.) Aker does not even attempt to connect these arguments to its discovery requests.
`
`Moreover, these arguments misapprehend the ‘351 Patent and its teachings. The
`
`‘351 Patent does not state that “Beaudoin I’s methods could be used to produce its claimed
`
`extracts.” (See Mot. at 5.) The ‘351 specification clearly distinguishes itself from Beaudoin,
`
`for example, by its focus on recovery of intact phospholipids, an idea Beaudoin does not
`
`teach or suggest. To preserve intact phospholipids, the ‘351 Patent teaches the avoidance
`
`
`
`10.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`of excessive heat and specifically, avoidance of the heating step required by Beaudoin’s
`
`method. The examiner agreed the ‘351 claims were novel over Beaudoin I.6
`
` “Dr. Jaczynski admitted … that following Beaudoin’s procedure, the Claimed
`
`Phospholipid is present before and after the alleged heating step”
`
`(Mot. § I(c)(1), p. 7 and associated AKBM Exs. 1093 and 1094)
`
`
`
`This argument is misleading and unrelated to Aker’s discovery requests. In the cited
`
`portion of Dr. Jaczynski’s deposition testimony, which is from the parties’ prior ITC litigation,
`
`Dr. Jaczynski states he was not opining that Beaudoin’s heating step would necessarily
`
`destroy every last molecule of Claimed Phospholipid. (See Mot. at 7.) This is not an
`
`admission that a single molecule, or detectable amounts, of Claimed Phospholipid would
`
`always be present after the heating step. Indeed, Aker’s alleged recreations prove that
`
`following the heating step, Claimed Phospholipid is not necessarily present in detectable
`
`amounts. See Neptune Patent Owner Response, Paper 66, pp. 29-30 (July 1, 2014).
`
` “the only experiments Neptune has conducted confirm Beaudoin I anticipates”
`
`(Mot. § I(c)(3), p. 8, and associated AKBM Exs. 1098-1100, 1102-1103)
`
`
`6 The ‘351 specification also teaches how to practice the invention in many places other
`
`than the few lines Aker cites. See, e.g., Neptune Patent Owner Response, Paper 66, pp.
`
`12, 14 (July 1, 2014).
`
`
`
`11.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`Aker puts forth extensive argument, and thousands of pages of new exhibits,
`
`
`
`regarding prior Beaudoin recreations attempted by Neptune. These prior Neptune
`
`experiments are irrelevant to Aker’s discovery requests.
`
`
`
`As Aker knows full well, the 2009 Neptune experiment Aker cites was a failed
`
`attempt to recreate Beaudoin. In the prior ITC litigation, Neptune produced unchallenged
`
`evidence that the 2009 Beaudoin experiment conducted by Pierre St-Jean failed to faithfully
`
`repeat the prior art process and so was irrelevant to anticipation. See infra section III(D).
`
`Aker’s accusation that Neptune “hid” this experiment from the PTO (Mot. at 10) is as
`
`baseless as it is irrelevant to Aker’s motion for additional discovery.
`
`V.
`
`CONCLUSION
`For the foregoing reasons, Aker’s motion should be denied, and the Board should
`
`expunge the following portions of Aker’s motion and the associated exhibits: section I(a);
`
`section I(c); and AKBM Exhibits 1093, 1094, 1098-1100, 1102-1103.
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`COOLEY LLP
`
`/J. Dean Farmer /
`J. Dean Farmer, Ph.D.
`Reg. No. 57,917
`
`
`
`
`
`
`By:
`
`
`
`Dated: September 16, 2014
`
`COOLEY LLP
`ATTN: Patent Group
`1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
`Suite 700
`Washington, DC 20004-2400
`
`Tel: (617) 937-2371
`Fax: (202) 842-7899
`
`
`
`
`
`
`12.
`
`

`
`Patent Owner’s Opposition
`Case No. 2014-00003
`
`
`CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE UNDER 37 C.F.R. §§ 42.6(e), 42.205(b)
`I, J. Dean Farmer, Ph.D., hereby certify that the foregoing PATENT OWNER’S
`
`OPPOSITION TO PETITIONER AKBM’S MOTION FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY was
`served electronically (as consented to by Petitioners) on September 16, 2014, the same day
`as the filing of the above-identified document in the United States Patent and Trademark
`Office (USPTO), upon:
`
`Amanda Hollis
`amanda.hollis@kirkland.com
`Hand delivery address:
`KIRKLAND & ELLIS
`300 North LaSalle
`Chicago, IL 60654
`Telephone: 312-862-2011
`Facsimile: 312-862-2200
`Reg. No. 55,629
`
`
`
`J. Mitchell Jones
`jmjones@casimirjones.com
`docketing@casimirjones.com
`Hand delivery address:
`CASIMIR JONES SC
`2275 Deming Way, St. 310
`Middleton, WI 53562
`Telephone: (608) 662-1277
`Facsimile: (608) 662-1276
`Reg. No. 44,174
`
`Dated: September 16, 2014
`
`COOLEY LLP
`ATTN: Patent Group
`1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
`Suite 700
`Washington, DC 20004-2400
`Tel: (617) 937-2371
`Fax: (202) 842-7899
`
`
`
`110160336
`
`
`
`Elizabeth J. Holland
`eholland@goodwinprocter.com
`Goodwin Procter LLP
`The New York Times Building
`620 Eighth Avenue
`New York, NY 10018
`Telephone: (212) 813-8800
`Facsimile: (212) 355-3333
`Reg. No. 47,657
`
`Cynthia Lambert Hardman
`chardman@goodwinprocter.com
`Goodwin Procter LLP
`The New York Times Building
`620 Eighth Avenue
`New York, NY 10018
`Telephone: (212) 813-8800
`Facsimile: (212) 355-3333
`Reg. No. 53,179
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`COOLEY LLP
`
`/J. Dean Farmer/
`J. Dean Farmer, Ph.D.
`Reg. No. 57,917
`
`
`
`By:

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket